Polliwog on Safari

When hosting guests from other places, be sure to take time for everyday life. It's so easy to get caught up traveling from place to place, showing off your home town or state. What makes a cultural exchange rich is not the number of places you've visited, rather the meaningful exchanges you've had with people. As I've written before, some of my favorite memories happen in off moments- the everyday moments rather than the big tourist moments. This is equally true of me as a traveler and as a host.

Here are some wonderful moments from our recent visit with our "family" from India:

My kids taught our guest how to "shuck" corn.

While the grown-ups gave each other cooking tips and prepared dinner.

Everyone got up early to send my kids off to school.

The boys practiced taking photos the "Indian way"- with no smiles.

Then everyone gave them a big send-off.

By the time my kids came home, the house was quiet for the first time in 5 days. The big send-off happened on our friends' last day here. It made the goodbyes easier and offered a fun way for our kids to head off to school.

Have you hosted guests from another state or country? What were your favorite moments?